Gaseous ozone to preserve quality and enhance microbial safety of fresh produce: Recent developments and research needs

Fresh fruits and vegetables are highly perishable and are subject to large postharvest losses due to physiological (senescence), pathologic (decay), and physical (mechanical damage) factors. In addition, contamination of fresh produce with foodborne human pathogens has become a concern. Gaseous ozone has multiple benefits including destruction of ethylene, inactivation of foodborne and spoilage microorganisms, and degradation of chemical residues. This article reviews the beneficial effects of gaseous ozone, its influence on quality and biochemical changes, foodborne human pathogens, and spoilage microorganisms, and discusses research needs with an emphasis on fruits. Ozone may induce synthesis of a number of antioxidants and bioactive compounds by activating secondary metabolisms involving a wide range of enzymes. Disparities exist in the literature regarding the impact of gaseous ozone on quality and physiological processes of fresh produce, such as weight loss, ascorbic acid, and fruit ripening. The disparities are complicated by incomplete reporting of the necessary information, such as relative humidity and temperatures at which ozone measurement and treatment were performed, which is needed for accurate comparison of results among studies. In order to fully realize the benefits of gaseous ozone, research is needed to evaluate the molecular mechanisms of gaseous ozone in inhibiting ripening, influence of relative humidity on the antimicrobial efficacy, interaction between ozone and the cuticle of fresh produce, ozone signaling pathways in the cells and tissues, and so forth. Possible adverse effects of gaseous ozone on quality of fresh produce also need to be carefully evaluated for the purpose of enhancing microbial and chemical safety of fresh produce.     

Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapy in Novel Porcine Model of Diffuse Liver Damage Induced by Repeated Biliary Obstruction

In liver surgery, biliary obstruction can lead to secondary biliary cirrhosis, a life-threatening disease with liver transplantation as the only curative treatment option. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been shown to improve liver function in both acute and chronic liver disease models. This study evaluated the effect of allogenic MSC transplantation in a large animal model of repeated biliary obstruction followed by partial hepatectomy. MSC transplantation supported the growth of regenerated liver tissue after 14 days (MSC group, n = 10: from 1087 ± 108 (0 h) to 1243 ± 92 mL (14 days); control group, n = 11: from 1080 ± 95 (0 h) to 1100 ± 105 mL (14 days), p = 0.016), with a lower volume fraction of hepatocytes in regenerated liver tissue compared to resected liver tissue (59.5 ± 10.2% vs. 70.2 ± 5.6%, p < 0.05). Volume fraction of connective tissue, blood vessels and bile vessels in regenerated liver tissue, serum levels of liver enzymes (AST, ALT, ALP and GGT) and liver metabolites (albumin, bilirubin, urea and creatinine), as well as plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and TGF-β, were not affected by MSC transplantation. In our novel, large animal (pig) model of repeated biliary obstruction followed by partial hepatectomy, MSC transplantation promoted growth of liver tissue without any effect on liver function. This study underscores the importance of translating results between small and large animal models as well as the careful translation of results from animal model into human medicine.     

Strategies to Modulate Specialized Metabolism in Mediterranean Crops: From Molecular Aspects to Field

Plant specialized metabolites (SMs) play an important role in the interaction with the environment and are part of the plant defense response. These natural products are volatile, semi-volatile and non-volatile compounds produced from common building blocks deriving from primary metabolic pathways and rapidly evolved to allow a better adaptation of plants to environmental cues. Specialized metabolites include terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, glucosinolates, tannins, resins, etc. that can be used as phytochemicals, food additives, flavoring agents and pharmaceutical compounds. This review will be focused on Mediterranean crop plants as a source of SMs, with a special attention on the strategies that can be used to modulate their production, including abiotic stresses, interaction with beneficial soil microorganisms and novel genetic approaches.     

Labeling and Characterization of Phenol-Containing Glycopeptides Using Chemoselective Probes with Isotope Tags

Secondary metabolites are structurally diverse natural products (NPs) and have been widely used for medical applications. Developing new tools to enrich NPs can be a promising solution to isolate novel NPs from the native and complex samples. Here, we developed native and deuterated chemoselective labeling probes to target phenol-containing glycopeptides by the ene-type labeling used in proteomic research. The clickable azido-linker was included for further biotin functionalization to facilitate the enrichment of labeled substrates. Afterward, our chemoselective method, in conjunction with LC-MS and MSn analysis, was demonstrated in bacterial cultures. A vancomycin-related phenol-containing glycopeptide was labeled and characterized by our labeling strategy, showing its potential in glycopeptide discovery in complex environments.     

Computer aided diagnosis of brain abnormalities using texture analysis of MRI images

The drive of this study is to develop a robust system. A method to classify brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image into brain-related disease groups and tumor types has been proposed. The proposed method employed Gabor texture, statistical features, and support vector machine. Brain MRI images have been classified into normal, cerebrovascular, degenerative, inflammatory, and neoplastic. The proposed system has been trained on a complete dataset of Brain Atlas-Harvard Medical School. Further, to achieve robustness, a dataset developed locally has been used. Extraordinary results on different orientations, sequences of both of these datasets as per accuracy (up to 99.6%), sensitivity (up to 100%), specificity (up to 100%), precision (up to 100%), and AUC value (up to 1.0) have been achieved. The tumorous slices are further classified into primary or secondary tumor as well as their further types as glioma, sarcoma, meningioma, bronchogenic carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma, which could not be possible to determine without biopsy, otherwise.     

二次侧非能动余热排出系统流动不稳定性研究

二次侧非能动余热排出（ASP）系统是压水堆核电厂应对全厂断电事故的重要措施之一。为研究ASP系统的运行特性，设计建造了ASP系统试验装置（ASPTF）。在ASPTF上开展了ASP系统运行稳定性影响试验，并对试验结果进行了理论分析。试验研究与理论分析结果表明：低压低功率下ASP系统中出现流动不稳定性；增加蒸汽管线或回水管线阻力系数可抑制ASP系统出现流动不稳定性；降低加热功率时ASP系统更易出现流动不稳定性；主泵运行状态影响ASP系统的输入功率进而影响系统的流动不稳定性。     

有色冶炼二次含砷物料碱法脱砷工艺现状

分析了典型二次含砷物料化学成分特点,概括了当前有色冶炼工业中产生的二次含砷物料碱法脱砷工艺及原理,主要包括湿法脱砷工艺和火法—湿法联合脱砷工艺。其中,碱法脱砷工艺常用NaOH单碱浸出、NaOH-Na_2S混合碱浸出和NaOH+Na_2S混合碱两段浸出三种体系,并采用双氧水、加压、曝气、微波、球磨等氧化手段强化砷的浸出;火法—湿法联合脱砷工艺主要有低温碱性熔炼—水浸、焙烧预氧化—碱性浸出以及低温碱性焙烧—热水浸出工艺,低温碱性焙烧—热水浸出工艺选择性脱砷效果好,物料普适性广。最后,结合现有研究指出了碱法脱砷工艺存在的问题及二次含砷物料无害化、资源化研究方向。     

Precipitation location of secondary phase and microstructural evolution during static recrystallization of as-cast Ti-25V-15Cr-0.3Si titanium alloy

The microstructural evolution and precipitation location of the secondary phase of an as-cast Ti-25V-15Cr-0.3Si titanium alloy were investigated via isothermal compression experiments and heat treatment. The average aspect (length-to-width) ratio, average area and size of the grains at different heat treatment temperatures and holding time were analyzed and the effects of deformation and annealing time on the grain area and size were considered. It was found that the grain size was strongly influenced by the height reduction and holding time. Grain growth was significant when annealing time increased from 10 min to 2 h at 950 °C and height reduction of 30%; however, grain growth was minimal at annealing time between 2 and 4 h. Many dispersion particles were observed to form in continuous chains; the precipitation location was confirmed to be along initial grain boundaries, and the dispersion particles were identified to be Ti₅Si₃ phase by TEM.     

影响煤层气开发效果的地质因素再认识

地质特征认识对煤层气开发效果起着重要作用。在资源特征相差不大的情况下,发现煤层气相邻井的产量差异仍较大。排除工程因素后,通过选取8类地质参数,细致比对了保德区块低产井与邻井的参数特征,筛查出其关键因素为煤层微幅构造与顶板封盖条件,其中以微幅构造为主。据此,重新认识并划分出区块新的次生褶皱背斜单元、向斜单元和斜坡单元,获得了不同次生褶皱构造单元的开发特征。结果表明,高、低产井分布与次生褶皱背斜、向斜相关性高达92%。其中:高产井主要分布在次生褶皱背斜变化较缓、呈隆起状的“平台”,且煤层顶板以泥岩、碳质泥岩为主,封盖性较好;低产井主要分布在次生褶皱向斜,同一井台各井开发效果差异表现为从向斜条带轴部—向斜条带内—向斜条带外的煤层气井平均单井产量不断增加,到向斜轴部的距离大于向斜曲率半径73.5%的范围为主力产气区,小于向斜曲率半径40.0%范围为产水主力区。这对煤层气新井部署、生产管理、开发调整等,具有一定的指导意义。